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movie night

One of my favorite Christmas traditions is watching Christmas movies. Every year as a child, it was tradition to have a Christmas movie night. I was thankful that I always got two nights – one with my Grammy and one with my Mom. After working in the kitchen with Grammy all morning, we would arrange gift baskets for friends filled with Christmas sweets and canned goods straight from the garden. Then we would make air popped popcorn with a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese and watch classics like It’s a Wonderful Life and The Walton’s The Homecoming: A Christmas Story. My Mom and I would have movie and wrapping parties. We would wrap all the presents at one time while laughing to some of our favorites like Home Alone and National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.

This year, we are celebrating our first year moving back to our small hometown in our tiny cabin. Our tree is smaller this year as we focus more on getting back to basics, but our movie night is still in full effect. My husband, furbaby and I will be having some delicious vegan snacks during our Christmas movie marathon!

Earth Balance Aged White Cheddar Puffs

I have always been a fan of Wise Cheese Doodles and they were one of my favorite snacks. This is very reminiscent of that crunch with a lighter cheese flavor without the crazy orange fingers. I have purchased these several times over the past year and really don’t see me stopping! They are clearly labeled with some of my family’s requirements like non-gmo and vegan too.

Wannabe Vegan Rating: 9/10 | Omnivore Rating: 8/10

Earth Balance Aged White Cheddar Popcorn

I have been looking at store after store for this product, but I haven’t had any luck at the usual spots like Whole Foods and Kroger in my surrounding area. I did find and order them from VeganEssentials.com though! This website has been a life line for me when I can’t find a specific product anywhere. Like the puffs, the package clearly shows the vegan label as well at the non-gmo which is very important to my family especially when purchasing corn products. The cheese flavor is the same as the puffs and just as addicting! It’s the perfect replacement for my childhood favorite.

Wannabe Vegan Rating: 10/10 | Omnivore Rating: 9/10

Trader Joe’s Caramel Popcorn

Trader Joe’s has done it again. I love the fact that so many of their products that traditionally have animal products are made vegan on purpose and labeled as such at an affordable price. This is the perfect sweet accompaniment to the other savory options we had available. Plus it doesn’t get stuck in your teeth!

I love going to the movies, but even for two people it can cost about $50 if you want a drink, popcorn and a sweet treat. Since we are on a budget, we tend to lean towards Netflix or Redbox for our movie nights. Plus I get to cuddle with my dog during scary scenes while in my pajamas.

My favorite part of movie night is the fact that I get to have snacks for dinner! Let’s start with the best part…popcorn! If you are spoiling yourself at an actual theater, choose Regal or AMC. You’ll thank me later. Per the PETA website, the popcorn is cooked in canola oil so you’re safe there. Now on to the serious business…movie theater butter. Everyone loves it except our waistlines. Regal’s buttery topping is actual made of soybean oil and is dairy free – so it’s VEGAN! AMC’s topping is made mostly of coconut oil so it’s VEGAN too! Hallelujah!

We usually watch our movies at home since we are on a budget like most people. I prefer a low fat popcorn and it’s pretty impossible to find one that is vegan and readily available in the grocery store. I haven’t found anything that meets the vegan requirements so I prefer to pop my own kernels with an air popper. It’s a fairly inexpensive piece of equipment that doesn’t take up too much space in your kitchen. Since you’re at home, you can also customize it with lots of vegan toppings for pops of flavor. Adding a tablespoon of coconut oil or melted vegan butter with a tablespoon of nutritional yeast will give you that movie butter flavor. Some other options to add to some melted vegan butter are garlic, lemon, paprika, lemon pepper or chili powder. The options really are endless. If popcorn isn’t your thing, check out some salty snacks that are accidentally vegan like Doritos (only the Spicy Sweet Chili flavor), Fritos, Lay’s (classic and barbecue flavors), Wheat Thins, Pringles (original and barbecue flavors), Kettle Brand Potato Chips (several flavor options here – including barbecue, jalapeno, pepperoncini, sea salt and vinegar, maple bacon and more!) and Ruffles original flavor chips.

Now on to the sweet treats! I have never been a big fan of candy bars or chocolate except dark chocolate with sea salt. YUM! I prefer to snack on gummy fruit flavored treats, but a lot of gummy products are not vegan because they contain gelatin. However, there are a lot of snacks out there that are accidentally VEGAN that you probably already enjoy and you didn’t even know it! Cracker Jacks are the sweet popcorn alternative that is vegan. I actually like to mix a little with my air popped popcorn to mix it up a little bit. Twizzlers are always a favorite in my house especially with my dog! I love the strawberry and rainbow varieties the best. Skittles are vegan too! This list just keeps getting better and better! My new favorite are the sweets and sours batch. Sour Patch Kids have always been a staple on our movie night. The watermelon variety is our personal favorite. Dots are the classic movie candy for us too and one of my all time favorite candies.

For future reference, these are the three biggest offenders on your candy’s ingredient list – gelatin, carmine color and confectioner’s glaze. When in doubt, just utilize your resources and search “Is it vegan?” with the name of the product in Google. Most of the time you’ll find your answer pretty quickly. Check out this link to get the best vegan candy to hand out for your Halloween trick or treaters.